calfranklin Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 My 800XL is connected to a Commodore Color monitor via the A/V cable, but the resolution is terrible, vertical line, etc. Can anyone suggest a better video resolution fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 (edited) My 800XL is connected to a Commodore Color monitor via the A/V cable, but the resolution is terrible, vertical line, etc. Can anyone suggest a better video resolution fix? 1018912[/snapback] Its the 800xl. I have a 800 and XEGS and they have less problems than the 800xl I have. I think the solution is doing the Super Video 2.0 2.1 mods. Super Video link Edited November 4, 2006 by Almost Rice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 (edited) My 800XL is connected to a Commodore Color monitor via the A/V cable, but the resolution is terrible, vertical line, etc. Can anyone suggest a better video resolution fix? 1018912[/snapback] Its the 800xl. I have a 800 and XEGS and they have less problems than the 800xl I have. I think the solution is doing the Super Video 2.0 2.1 mods. Super Video link 1018931[/snapback] Just get a cable. The 800xl already HAS svideo outputs, and it is a NIGHT & DAY difference between the crappy composite video signal. Looking at the monitor port: ................ ..3.........1.. ................. .5............4. ........2........ (excuse the crappy diagram) 1 luminence 2 ground 3 audio output 4 composite video 5 chroma S-video is just chroma & luma. And the Commodore 1701, 1702, 1084, etc. monitors have chroma and luma inputs on the back. So if you cant find a cable.... MAKE ONE! It really does make a much cleaner picture. Edited February 17, 2006 by MEtalGuy66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Just get a cable. The 800xl already HAS svideo outputs, and it is a NIGHT & DAY difference between the crappy composite video signal. Looking at the monitor port: ................ ..3.........1.. ................. .5............4. ........2........ (excuse the crappy diagram) 1 luminence 2 ground 3 audio output 4 composite video 5 chroma S-video is just chroma & luma. And the Commodore 1701, 1702, 1084, etc. monitors have chroma and luma inputs on the back. So if you cant find a cable.... MAKE ONE! It really does make a much cleaner picture. 1019735[/snapback] Not really. The 800xl has no chroma and the vertical lines are still visible. It is a night and day difference when you compare the image to a 800. This is the main reason I am interested in warerats 800 mod to XL OS. The other being the better keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Really? heh. Thats strange as hell. I have been using the chroma & luma signals on my 800xl (since I fried the RF modulator when I was a kid) for a long time, and I swear, I dont remember ever doing any mods to the video circuitry in it. Maybe some revisions are better than others.. Maybe I just got lucky. But It's a razor sharp display. My 130xe has the clearpic mod, which sharpened it up a bit, but I swear I cant tell a difference between that and the 800xl. I alwayse assumed the 800xl had the video stuff "right" to begin with. I guess you learn something new every day.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artlover Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Really? heh. Thats strange as hell. I have been using the chroma & luma signals on my 800xl (since I fried the RF modulator when I was a kid) for a long time, and I swear, I dont remember ever doing any mods to the video circuitry in it. Maybe some revisions are better than others.. Maybe I just got lucky. 1019782[/snapback] From what I understand, most 800XL's do not have the chroma but some did. Those that do being a minority. It's also not on the 600XL or the 1200XL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 Adding the chroma to the 800XL is easy. Doing the whole video mod is a bit more complex. I did the Super Video for my 800XL but wasn't happy with the result, so I backed off some of it (at suggestion of one of the creators of the mod). I did add an S-Vid port to my 130XE though, and despite having no video mod on it, the monitor output is much better than the RF output (which is very second rate, like most XEs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I got the 800xl to show an image on the 1702 by putting the Composite signal instead of the Chroma to the monitor. It outputs an image, but still not that great. Are you sure you are not doing that, Metalguy? I did not know what I was missing using my crappy Zenith monitor all these years. The image on the Zenith was marginally better than the TV output. I just know that the 800 with 1702 shows an image that I can clearly see single pixels on the screen and interference from the drive I/O. I dont know if the Chroma mod would get rid of those vertical lines for me. I also thought all 800xl's had no chroma. I guess I better go through all my xl's to make sure about that. Also I heard of the all the not so positive feedback on the Super Video mods that I was holding off on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fröhn Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 The chroma mod will definitely NOT remove those vertical lines, because they are part of the luma signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 Really? heh. Thats strange as hell. I have been using the chroma & luma signals on my 800xl (since I fried the RF modulator when I was a kid) for a long time, and I swear, I dont remember ever doing any mods to the video circuitry in it. Maybe some revisions are better than others.. Maybe I just got lucky. But It's a razor sharp display. My 130xe has the clearpic mod, which sharpened it up a bit, but I swear I cant tell a difference between that and the 800xl. I alwayse assumed the 800xl had the video stuff "right" to begin with. I guess you learn something new every day.. 1019782[/snapback] Although I never have seen a 130XE with the clearpic mod, I've never had a problem with it's chroma/lumina to start with. I think it's very sharp and clear, in fact it's still sharper and clearer (slightly) than my 1200XL with the Supervideo mod, though due to the 1200's chroma amplifier circuit it has much more vibrant colors. I'd sure like to see the 130's standard and clearpic mod chrom/lumina screens side by side. Maybe you can send me a pic of your XE's clearpic and then I can post it side-by-side with a pic of my 130's standard S-video? I'd seen other threads about upgrading the 130's S-video before, I asked them at the time why they were doing it becuase mine seem perfectly fine, as I remember I got chastised for not agreeing with them that it needed an upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Jefferson Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 I also thought all 800xl's had no chroma. I guess I better go through all my xl's to make sure about that. 1019888[/snapback] It seems like some late-model 800XLs did have chroma. At least several people have said that they get a chroma signal... None of mine do (about 3 or 4). @Rybags: which parts of the SuperVideo mod did you back off? I've done them on a couple of my computers, and on one of them I've got some ghost vertical lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 (edited) I also thought all 800xl's had no chroma. I guess I better go through all my xl's to make sure about that. 1019888[/snapback] It seems like some late-model 800XLs did have chroma. At least several people have said that they get a chroma signal... None of mine do (about 3 or 4). @Rybags: which parts of the SuperVideo mod did you back off? I've done them on a couple of my computers, and on one of them I've got some ghost vertical lines. 1020217[/snapback] Isn't he just talking about adding a real S-video mini-din jack instead of using the standard monitor port's Chroma/Lumina (S-video) lines? Edit: Sorry, I missed the bit right above where he talks about backing off the mod. While he should answer to know for sure, and forgive my impudence, but I would imagine he backed off the chroma amplifier part as it's not necessary, it just has better color saturation, but in exchange has more shadowing, etc. But all that's needed is to add a swithc to turn it on and off, if you have already done the entire project anyway. But it may be something else. The 1200XL already has a chroma amplifer circuit, but it's botched and needs minor repair, so it's less work than the 800XL's. Edited February 18, 2006 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 I did some searching. It looks like Bryan was addressing this problem. Also having the 800xl modified with more ram like my system may worsen the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 From memory, I changed a couple of the resistors back to their original values, and put the diode back in (which the mod suggested to remove). I received an email from one of the guys who formulated the mod I did, I'll try and dig it out. (Just had to reinstall Windoze after it totally crapped itself) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 (edited) Just restored my old eMail files, here is an extract from the mail I sent and the reply I received: My email to Clarence: today I performed the 2.0 SuperVideo upgrade on my Australian PAL 800XL. But, my video output is now worse. The colour appears washed out, and overall the display is sharper, but has a darker blue tinge on the right of the default display (composite input to TV). For some reason, plugging into my capture card on the PC, I now only get a B&W display, where before it was colour. I currently use a plug I made up, with composite output from the XL's monitor port. I added the chroma output previously, and it was fine, although I can't test it at the moment, as I removed the S-Video plug from my adaptor and added it internally to my 130XE. I have also noticed with the 800XL that as well as being washed out, colours are darker. For example, setcolor 2,n,0 now generates an almost black background, where before it was a dark version of the selected colour. I performed the 2.0 mod as per your page: http://www.geocities.com/atarimods/supervid2.html with the exception of not adding the composite on/off switch (Step 6). I also removed the capacitor mentioned in Step 2. I've only visually inspected my solder connections, I didn't want to risk frying anything by using the audible tester on my digital multimeter ( + I'm not very experienced with electronics). Any suggestions? Reply extract: Anyway, I am not sure what is going on. Sounds like a lack of frequency response. But then I never moded a PAL set before. I wouldn't think there was any difference, but I don't really know the PAL standard. Do you happen to have a schematic to the PAL version to compare? It is also very possible that the output impedance is now to low and there is not enough color information going to the monitor/capture card. You might try increasing R66 from 75 ohms to 100 ohms and if you do have C56, remove one end to see if that improves things. Other than that, I don't really know. On all the set I modified, the picture always was better going into a monitor (Commodore 1705) and no one has said anything so far. But then, no one had a PAL set that I know of. Something must be different, but for the life of me I don't know without seeing the PAL schematic. Even then I don't know if I could help you with out having the units to work on. ========================================= To anyone doing a video mod, I would advise some caution, plus it is quite probable that what's good for an NTSC machine might not necessarily be the same on a PAL machine. Edited February 18, 2006 by Rybags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 Just restored my old eMail files, here is an extract from the mail I sent and the reply I received: My email to Clarence: today I performed the 2.0 SuperVideo upgrade on my Australian PAL 800XL. But, my video output is now worse. The colour appears washed out, and overall the display is sharper, but has a darker blue tinge on the right of the default display (composite input to TV). For some reason, plugging into my capture card on the PC, I now only get a B&W display, where before it was colour. I currently use a plug I made up, with composite output from the XL's monitor port. I added the chroma output previously, and it was fine, although I can't test it at the moment, as I removed the S-Video plug from my adaptor and added it internally to my 130XE. I have also noticed with the 800XL that as well as being washed out, colours are darker. For example, setcolor 2,n,0 now generates an almost black background, where before it was a dark version of the selected colour. I performed the 2.0 mod as per your page: http://www.geocities.com/atarimods/supervid2.html with the exception of not adding the composite on/off switch (Step 6). I also removed the capacitor mentioned in Step 2. I've only visually inspected my solder connections, I didn't want to risk frying anything by using the audible tester on my digital multimeter ( + I'm not very experienced with electronics). Any suggestions? Reply extract: Anyway, I am not sure what is going on. Sounds like a lack of frequency response. But then I never moded a PAL set before. I wouldn't think there was any difference, but I don't really know the PAL standard. Do you happen to have a schematic to the PAL version to compare? It is also very possible that the output impedance is now to low and there is not enough color information going to the monitor/capture card. You might try increasing R66 from 75 ohms to 100 ohms and if you do have C56, remove one end to see if that improves things. Other than that, I don't really know. On all the set I modified, the picture always was better going into a monitor (Commodore 1705) and no one has said anything so far. But then, no one had a PAL set that I know of. Something must be different, but for the life of me I don't know without seeing the PAL schematic. Even then I don't know if I could help you with out having the units to work on. ========================================= To anyone doing a video mod, I would advise some caution, plus it is quite probable that what's good for an NTSC machine might not necessarily be the same on a PAL machine. 1020354[/snapback] Hmm...I have been checking out the 130XE super-video mod, to see if it's something I think is necessary, of course I think my XE display is perfectly sharp and clear as is, but it does have "washed out" colors compared to my 1200XL (with 2.1 mod), BUT, it's still a sharper image than the XL. So I was thinking of doing this mod just to improve color amperage. My machine is an NTSC, but I have a PAL Antic in it, so I wonder if that might muck up the works as it does with an entire PAL computer...I guess there's only one way to find out. The XE's color output never bothered me before except for the interlaced software resolutions that allow 256 colors by interlacing GTIA graphic modes, which always looked VERY washed out on the XE. I've looked at some of these graphics on my 1200XL with the 2.1 mod now, and I have to say, this is a night and day difference for these graphic modes, and would be the ONLY reason for me doing this XE mod, since I am an artist and do like to use all the colors possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urchlay Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 Sorry to bump an ancient thread, but... the links for the Super Video mods in this thread are dead, and I haven't been able to find any version of the Super Video or Clearpic mod for the 800XL by searching on google or web.archive.org. I do find lots of mentions of them (mostly in various copies of the Upgrade/Modification FAQ), but no actual instructions... If anyone has a copy of these pages or knows where to find them, could you post them here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 (edited) http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=1302917 More generally: http://wolfpup.net/atarimods/supervid.html Edited July 9, 2007 by kheller2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Guitarman Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 Atari Mods including Video Mods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urchlay Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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